Dutch District Attorney declares Bubble Group’s activity to be legal

Bubble Group, the holding company behind Sheriff Gaming, has welcomed the opportunity to comment on the withdrawal of its igaming licence by its regulator the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and criticised the Dutch District Attorney for previously stating that its activities in Holland were “entirely legal”.

Bubble will take part in a regulatory hearing on 29 October hosted by the AGCC where it will give its side of the story on the developments that have seen it lose its licence and is now unable to take bets from its key market, Holland.

News of its suspension came out yesterday and follows an investigation by Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch gambling regulator, into the three executives heading up the company. However, it is unclear whether the AGCC’s decision was influenced by Kansspelautoriteit or if any pressure was exerted by the Dutch authorities on the igaming jurisdiction.

In a statement made public Thursday, Bubble Group said: “The management of Bubble would like to reiterate that on 29th August 2013 and 6th September 2013 respectively, the (Dutch) District Attorney wrote to inform Bubble that there can be no doubt that Bubble's activities, its development of games and licensing of these games are entirely legal.”

It also regrets “the decision made by the AGCC to temporarily suspend its Category 2 Associate Certificate until after the hearing and before any true and hard facts have been presented by the AGCC. However the company will continue to be fully compliant and abide any restrictions made on Bubble during this temporary suspension”.

Holland’s gambling regulator has been clamping down on unlicensed sites recently. It fined online gaming provider Global Stars €100,000 ($132,000) for targeting consumers in the Netherlands without a licence to operate in the country.